ICC-ASP-20100603-PR536
In the context of the stocktaking exercise on international criminal
justice, a “Peace and Justice” session was held during the Review Conference
in Kampala. The debates offered an opportunity for States to affirm that
peace and justice are complementary, rather than mutually exclusive.
The first speaker of the panel, Mr David Tolbert, President of the
International Center for Transitional Justice, stated that the long-term
benefits of pursuing justice far outweigh any short-term benefits of
amnesties. He also pointed out that the role of the Prosecutor needs to be
understood: he has to know the situation on the ground and be conscious of
the importance of the timing of issuing arrest warrants.
Mr James LeMoyne, former Special Adviser for Colombia to the United Nations
Secretary-General, addressed the panel by stressing that peace processes
that take justice into account are more sustainable and lasting. If
mediators would be allowed to have some flexibility on how to approach
justice issues in particular regarding timing, that would help their work
considerably. Nevertheless, this flexibility should not be extended to the
most serious crimes under the Rome Statute.
Mr Barney Afako, Legal Adviser to the Chief Mediator on the Ugandan peace
process negotiations, stated that the dilemma of contradicting strategies to
render justice and establish peace would exist as long as there are ongoing
conflicts.
In spite of the fact that it took 30 years to start prosecuting some of the
perpetrators of the Cambodian genocide, not a single day did the victims
forget that they wanted justice, explained Mr Chhang Youk, Director of the
Documentation Center of Cambodia.
In his closing remarks the moderator of the panel, Mr Kenneth Roth,
Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, highlighted that the establishment
of the International Criminal Court (ICC) had indeed brought about a
paradigm shift: whereas before the discussion was called “peace versus
justice”, you could now observe an understanding of peace and justice as
allies which sustain one another. Nevertheless, tensions between cessation
of violence and justice could arise which had to be addressed and managed
carefully. Furthermore, Mr Roth pointed to some new challenges resulting
from the ICC’s existence. Mediators had to find ways to convince parties to
come to the negotiating table against the backdrop of actual or possible
indictments. The potential deterrent effect of justice would be undermined
if it was viewed as an exceptional or negotiable measure.
The panelists generally agreed that alternative transitional justice
mechanisms should not be seen as an alternative, but rather supplementary to
criminal justice processes, with the ICC concentrating on the most serious
crimes.
As for victims, experience showed that their views shifted over time, with
the immediate goal for peace followed by a quest for justice.
Finally, Mr. Roth stated that the establishment of the ICC constituted a
development as momentous as the adoption of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. He called on States to demonstrate their commitment through
executing arrest warrants and standing up to those that defy the ICC.
Summary of Peace and Justice panel.
http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/RC2010/RC-ST-PJ-1-ENG.pdf
Further information about the Review Conference can be found on the website
of the International Criminal Court at:
http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ASP/ReviewConference/Review+Conference.htm.
For additional information please contact Ms. Bettina Ambach (+256
787-700-942, email: Bettina@bettinaambach.de) or Ms. Suzan Khan at (+256
787-105-832, email: suzan22@btinternet.com)
Source: Assembly of States Parties
Independently Searching for the Truth since 1997.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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About Me
- Duong Dara
- Dara Duong was born in 1971 in Battambang province, Cambodia. His life changed forever at age four, when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975. During the regime that controlled Cambodia from 1975-1979, Dara’s father, grandparents, uncle and aunt were executed, along with almost 3 million other Cambodians. Dara’s mother managed to keep him and his brothers and sisters together and survive the years of the Khmer Rouge regime. However, when the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia, she did not want to live under Communist rule. She fled with her family to a refugee camp on the Cambodian-Thai border, where they lived for more than ten years. Since arriving in the United States, Dara’s goal has been to educate people about the rich Cambodian culture that the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy and about the genocide, so that the world will not stand by and allow such atrocities to occur again. Toward that end, he has created the Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, which began in his garage and is now in White Center, Washington. Dara’s story is one of survival against enormous odds, one of perseverance, one of courage and hope.
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